Honoring the Legacy of Leslie S. Kramer z”l

BY MIRIAM ABRAMOVICH

Last month, our community marked the first yahrzeit of the passing of past Federation president, Leslie Shuman Kramer z”l. For those of us fortunate enough to have known Leslie, loved her, or called her a friend, this has been an incredibly difficult year of firsts. To honor the legacy of her impact throughout Jewish Buffalo, Federation leadership has joined with the Kramer and Shuman families to establish The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund that carries forward Leslie’s dedication to amplifying women’s voices.

Leslie was a transformational leader for our community and especially the Buffalo Jewish Federation. A former attorney and a committed advocate and fundraiser for many causes, it was through the Federation movement that Leslie made her indelible mark as a leader, locally serving in many roles including as the chair of Women’s Philanthropy, nationally serving on the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) National Women’s Philanthropy board, and ultimately serving as president of the Buffalo Jewish Federation from 2018 to 2020.

While serving as Federation President, Leslie was a strategic and wise force, advocating for the most pressing issues of the day such as helping maintain calm during the pandemic, investing in security and community relations infrastructure, reimagining immersive travel experiences, and designing pipelines and pathways to Jewish engagement and leadership. Of note, was her work to support, convene, nurture and lift up other female leaders. In the last year of her presidency, Leslie designed and led a retreat for female members of the Federation’s Board of Governors called KOLOT: Bringing our authentic voices (kolot) to leadership.

In Leslie’s own words: “I reflected upon my own access to outstanding and inspiring national gatherings and trips of women only. I reflected upon the power of those experiences—where being among strong, smart, like-minded women recharged my batteries and introduced me to women I could see as mentors in my role as a community leader. I wanted to bring that opportunity to the incredible women of this Buffalo Jewish community”

(The Jewish Journal of WNY, President’s Column, October 2020).

In a nod to Leslie’s last major undertaking while President, the Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will support projects that focus on elevating women’s voices and growing future female Federation leaders. Projects to be funded by the Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will touch on at least one of Leslie’s three primary passions: family & legacy, immersive experiences, and deep Jewish learning.

FAMILY & LEGACY (am yisrael) IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES (lech lecha) DEEP JEWISH LEARNING (torah lishma)

Leslie had a deep and unwavering passion for her family: those related by blood, those chosen as family, and those part of the extended Jewish peoplehood. Friends in Buffalo, friends from National Women’s Philanthropy, Jews in Israel and around the world — Leslie saw them all as part of her extended mishpacha (family). The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will support the growth and strengthening of family connections by funding efforts that help emerging female leaders understand and experience the power of the global Jewish peoplehood, or research and connect to their own familial roots.

Leslie was instrumental in bringing immersive travel and conference experiences back as an essential engagement tool of the Buffalo Jewish Federation. From her participation in leadership missions, her dedication to attending (and encouraging others to attend) the annual JFNA General Assembly, her architecture of the original Buffalo Israel Experience, and her advocacy to secure funding to send the first Buffalo delegation on a Momentum journey, Leslie led a renaissance in designing immersive experiences for Jewish Buffalo. The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will support projects that bring together groups of women to dive deeply into shared time, during a shared Jewish experience, in a shared space.

Regular readers of the Jewish Journal will likely know that Leslie was a masterful writer and a passionate learner. She had a deep and lived commitment to torah lishma, the idea from Pirkei Avot that learning is valuable for its own sake. She spoke eloquently and often about the importance of learning and regularly translated what she found most compelling into written stories or

D’vrei Torah to share with others. The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will support deep Jewish learning experiences for women that inform and inspire Jewish leadership – or, celebrate learning for its own sake.

In Leslie’s decades of living and leading across Jewish Buffalo, the impact she made on individuals, our community’s culture, and its institutions was profound. Personally, I am so grateful to have had Leslie in my life. She showered me with wisdom and friendship, which transformed me as a woman, as a parent, and prepared me to lead with a voice that is both authentic and bold. Leslie is always in my heart and in my ear, guiding me as I go forward.

To learn more, about Leslie and her family, please visit the Buffalo Jewish History Center’s website: jewishbuffalohistory.org/sokolivkaonce-home. To make a contribution to The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund, please contact Miriam Abramovich, Chief Operating Officer at the Buffalo Jewish Federation, miriam@ buffalojewishfederation.org.